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‘The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you. And now, here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out, and taken yours.’ Alan Bennett

“Many a book is like a key to unknown chambers within the castle of one’s own self.” ― Franz Kafka

Thursday, 19 December 2013

Today I am delighted to welcome author Keith Maginn back to the blog, talking about his second book, Goodwill Tour: Paying It Forward. You can also read an extract from the book below.

Guest post by author Keith Maginn

My name is Keith Maginn and I released my
second book, Goodwill Tour: Paying It Forward in January of 2013. GWT is a travelogue about a journey that
I went on with my friend in mid-July of 2011. Emily and I set off from
Cincinnati, Ohio on a 3,000-mile road-trip through the southeastern United
States. We gave our own money to hand-picked strangers that we met along the
way, with the stipulation that they had to pay the money forward to someone
else. Goodwill Tour recounts how
Emily and I tried to spread kindness and make a difference in the lives of
others while having a once-in-a-lifetime journey.

The idea for the trip actually started out
as a joke. Emily and I met through my memoir, Turning This Thing Around. A friendship developed over time and we
started half-seriously daydreaming about doing a tour to sell my books. The two
of us brainstormed how we could combine having an adventure with doing
something philanthropic. Emily had read Bill Clinton’s book Giving and was well aware of the
“Pay-it-Forward” cause. Ultimately, she came up with the idea to go out on the
road, meet deserving strangers and give them money that they had to give to
someone else. Meanwhile, I would be taking notes along the way that I would
turn into a book.

The whole trip came about quickly and we
didn’t have time to plan much of anything. Emily and I only had a 15-day window
for our trip, so the route had to be within driving distance of Cincinnati, our
hometown. We knew the Southeastern U.S. route would put us in the Deep South in
the middle of a very hot summer, but that course would allow us to visit more
places that we had never been previously. Just a few days before we were going
to leave, Emily and I decided to go to Memphis, Tennessee - New Orleans, Louisiana
- Savannah, Georgia - Charleston, South Carolina - Asheville, North
Carolina…and many towns in between.

Other than a loose idea of destinations, Emily
and I decided we would just take a leap of faith and trust our instincts. We
wanted to put ourselves into positions to meet deserving people. In some cases
we were able to work alongside volunteers, at a soup kitchen for example, and
other times meeting our donation recipients was more serendipitous. Believe it
or not, giving money to strangers was harder than we expected!

The people that we chose ranged from a nun
to a mother of three young children to a monk. As you can imagine, all were
quite surprised when complete strangers handed them cash. What struck me the
most about these people is that they kept thanking us for what we were doing, while they were the ones really making a
difference—Emily and I were travelling around for a few weeks, while the people
we met worked or volunteered to help others on a daily basis for little or no
credit.

Stepping off of the trolley in our first
stop (Memphis, Tennessee) was when it first hit me—we were actually going
through with this crazy idea! Emily and I had the next several days to do
whatever we wanted. No deadlines, no 9-5 job, just a goal to have fun and to touch
some lives.

Giving away the first donation to a special
young woman in Memphis made us realize that things might work out after all.
She was genuinely grateful and all three of us were in tears. (The first
interaction also gave us a false sense of how smooth the trip and the giving
would be, as things were not that easy the rest of the trip!)

Emily and I easily could have backed out of
this trip, could have put it off for “another time”…a time that likely would
never come. I am glad that we took a chance. No one can ever take that away
from us. In the words of John F. Kennedy: “There are risks and costs to
a program of action. But they are far less than the long range
risks and costs of comfortable inaction.”

You only live once. You don’t want to have
regrets the rest of your life because you didn’t go after something you were
passionate about. When my aunt found out that Emily and I were going on this
journey, she said “One of my regrets is that I didn’t do once-in-a-lifetime
things when I was young and unencumbered.” You will never know unless you step
out of your comfort zone and follow what your heart is telling you to do. If
you go forward, you might be surprised how things just seem to work in your
favor. I hope Goodwill Tour: Paying It
Forward inspires others to take their dream trip and/or to make a
difference in the lives of others.

As an unknown, independent author, I am
grateful to Lindsay at The Little Reader Library for giving me a platform to
help spread my message. I also appreciate people like you for reading my story.
I would love to connect with you on Twitter (@Keith_Maginn) or at my website (keithmaginn.com). Thank you and all the
best!!

Excerpt

First
donation: Memphis, Tennessee

In the morning, Emily and I
decided to heed several friends’ suggestions and took the $4 monorail to Mud
Island River Park. On the ride over, a female staff member dressed in khakis
and a bright red Mud Island polo shirt greeted us. Being the lone passengers at
the time, Emily asked the attendant, “Are you our entertainment?” Without
hesitation, our host did an impromptu dance for us.

We could tell immediately
that Jena (pronounced “Gina”) was an affable young lady who didn’t waste time
complaining about the 100-degree temperature. When questioned about her
favorite part of the job, she said it was being able to meet people from all
over the world, from Amsterdam to Hawaii. Her favorite thing about Memphis:
“Beale Street. There are so many places to go and eat, to hear live music. It’s
always live.”

Jena could have been in a
foul mood, outside in excessive heat. Instead, she had a big smile for
everyone, asked questions, and seemed genuinely interested in our responses.

Since two cars shuttled
visitors to and from Mud Island, we told our new friend that we would catch her
train on the way back (which she told us was the car that Tom Cruise had ridden
during the chase scene in the movieThe Firm). As we got off the rail, I hinted strongly
to Emily that we’d just met our first donation recipient.

While we put the idea on
the back burner, Em and I explored Mud Island. Had the temperature been 25
degrees cooler, the park would have been the ideal setting for a picnic. We saw
several young adults singing and dancing, oblivious to the hotness. The sun
shimmered on the Mississippi and a light breeze lifted from the water from time
to time. It was a beautiful day in Memphis, with blue skies and few clouds.

When we stood by to return
from the island, a staff member told us Jena was on her break for the next 45
minutes. We decided to wait. After all, we’d promised we would see her again.

So we plotted.

Giving money to a stranger
was foreign to us. We didn’t know how to give cash to a person we had just met.
Even Emily, who seems comfortable in any situation, was nervous.

I suggested we pose the
idea to Jena as if we were conducting a survey, asking strangers what they
would do if someone gave them $100. (Unlike the donations to come, this was not
necessarily a pay-it-forward gift: One of Emily’s co-workers had donated $100
to be used specifically in Memphis, as her family had lived there years ago
when her husband was in the military.)

Soon enough, we saw Jena
again. She remembered our names, which impressed us, as she probably saw
hundreds of people every day. Jena looked suspicious: “They told me y’all
wouldn’t get back on without me.”

Emily: “Well, we told you
that we’d see you on our way back.”

I dipped my toe in: “Yeah,
we’ve been walking around asking people this question, ‘What would you do if
someone just walked up and gave you $100?’”

Without hesitation, Jena
replied: “The staff is not permitted to accept tips.”

I tried again: “No, no, no.
I’m just saying hypothetically. What if someone gave you $100?”

Without a second’s pause,
Jena answered: “I have four kids. I’d give them each $25.”

Emily and I changed the
subject and hid our smiles.

Worried Jena might be
prohibited from taking our gift, we decided we should talk to her boss. After
getting our picture taken with Jena, we told her goodbye, acting like we’d
never see her again. When I got to the ticket booth, I asked to see the manager
about one of the staff members.

The woman behind the desk
shot back, “What did he or she do wrong?”

I clarified that it was
quite the opposite. We wanted to reward Jena for her great attitude.

As the woman paged the
manager, she said: “Well, you picked a good one. Jena sometimes goes across the
street and shares her lunch with the homeless people.”

Two men came out of a back
office and asked me how they could help. I explained that Emily and I were
doing a “goodwill tour” of several cities and wanted to give money to deserving
people. I told them how great of a job Jena was doing and that we were not giving
her a tip, but a surprise gift as part of our project. They agreed that Jena
was a great choice and asked only that we give her the money offsite.

One of the men radioed for
Jena to come down to the office. A few seconds later, she saw Emily and me with
her boss and gave us a “what-the-hell-is-going-on?” half-grin. Her boss asked
Jena to go across the street with us and get him a newspaper. Hesitantly, she
walked with us. I can’t imagine what was going on in her head at this point.

I broke the ice: “Remember
that $100 we talked about on the monorail, Jena? Well, we want to give it to
you. We are traveling around, meeting special people and giving money away.
After meeting you and seeing what a great job you do, we want you to be our
first selection.”

Jena was shocked, and tears
welled up in her eyes, which caused a chain-reaction in Emily and me. She
couldn’t believe strangers as of a few hours ago were giving her money. Jena
said she couldn’t wait to share the joy with her kids. She informed us that she
is 26 and the mother of three boys and a girl, ages one, four, five and eight.

Giving Jena the money felt
great (though the credit goes to Emily’s co-worker Nancy for her generous
contribution). It was an emotional experience, and we seesawed between nervous
laughter and happy tears. Jena sighed, “Today, I am truly blessed.”

After more hugs and
pictures, Emily and I had to move on. Relieved that our opening donation went
better than we could have imagined, we were able to relax. Maybe this crazy
plan would work out after all.

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